Princeton Presbyterian Church

Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1711

December 14, 2025

John 1.6-13            Click here for audio worship.

Dr. Ed Pettus

(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)

 

“The Light”

 

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

• The Witness

 

There was a man sent from God! I would suggest we listen to such a man. God has sent us many messengers over the whole of the Bible and God has sent many true believers over the history of the church with the Bible message of Good News and sound doctrinal teaching. And yet, unfortunately, others have come claiming the name of Christ but have not known Christ. These are false teachers and the Bible has some of those as well, exposed and rebuked. We have to be on guard to discern those who have not been sent from God and yet pretend to be. But that topic is for another day.

Today we have before us in the gospel of John, the witness of John the Baptist. So we have two witnesses named John, the writer/apostle and the Baptizer. Verses 6-8 call John the Baptist a witness. He was a witness to the light but he was not the light. He gave testimony to the light and his hope was that all who heard his testimony would believe in Jesus Christ as the light of the world and the Savior of the world. This is the primary way we know the Good News about Jesus, through the many faithful witnesses who have given testimony about Jesus. From Genesis to Revelation, we have testimony after testimony of Jesus. Some of that testimony comes through history like the Exodus story that foreshadows our exodus from bondage in Christ. Some testimonies are from the prophets, some from wisdom literature, and some from Psalms and hymns. The New Testament carries on that testimony from those who walked with Jesus day after day and from others who had amazing encounters with Jesus, those healed or fed or taught. Paul gives his testimony of the day he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.

All are witnesses like John the Baptist and those testimonies live on in all who believe. We are in that line today. We have the testimony of the light of Christ. We bear the same testimony as all these great figures in the Bible. Jesus gave the church that mandate to make disciples and teach and baptize. Paul shares that message as well calling us to be ambassadors for Christ all because of what Christ has done for us!

 

1 Corinthians 5.17-21, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 

You and I are the witnesses who follow after John the Baptist, Paul the Apostle, Peter, John, and all the witnesses who have gone before us. That is tremendous company! And that is a tremendous and privileged opportunity to bear witness to the light to all who walk in darkness.

 

 

• The Light

 

John came to give witness to the light and that light is Jesus Christ. Last Sunday we read the opening verses of John and saw the first witness to the light,

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:4-5).

Darkness represents all that is wrong in the world: sin, death, evil, rejection of God, to name a few. Paul builds upon the light that has overcome the darkness in Colossi ans 1.13-14, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

1 Peter gives us a similar teaching, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (2.9).

 

Jesus has rescued us from evil, from sin, from death, and we have been transferred into the kingdom where there is light. That light reveals God’s redemption and God’s forgiveness. We read in Ephesians 5.6-14,

 

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

 

Now that we are in the light that is Jesus Christ, we are called to live in the light. Paul gives us clear directions – discern what pleases God, take no part in darkness, but expose it. We learn what those things are by following Jesus, learning about His life and His teachings. We learn through prayer and worship and service – all the things that help us grow in Christ.

Jesus taught us that He is the light of the world, “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8.12).

Many more witnesses speak to the light...

 

God’s Word is a light, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119.105).

God lightens our way, “For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness” (Psalm 18.28).

The Lord is our light! “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27.1)

Proverbs also gives witness to the light:

 

"The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out” (Proverbs 13.9).

"The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones” (Proverbs 15.30).

 

Let us walk in the light because John’s witness shows that many did not walk in that way.

 

 

• Not Known, Not Received

 

The sad news in John 1 is is that the world did not know Jesus and His own people did not receive Him. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

The world did not know Him and the world still refuses to accept Him. This is the story that we have seen throughout history and this is also the reason God uses His church to give witness to the message of light – so that others might see the light and come out of the darkness. Through John 1 we see the powerful message of how God and humanity are related. We saw in verse 10 that Jesus was in the world, and the world was made through Him.

It is something like a child coming into being through the mother, there is forever a particular kind of relatedness between mother and child that is inseparable. As close as that relationship can be, the one between Jesus and the world is even closer because through Jesus the world was made and Jesus is able to be in the very world that has been made through Him.

I guess the closest thing to that is knowing someone so intimately that we can predict their thoughts; we know someone so well that we can always say, "I knew she would do that!" Jesus is related to the world through creation and in coming as a human being Himself.

The second half of this verse shows us the way in which the relationship has broken down – yet the world did not know Him. And verse 11, He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. Something has gone terribly wrong! The relationship is one of rejection. We know about those kinds of relationships. Failed friendships, broken marriages, sibling rivalries. There are people we accept as friends, there are others we would just as soon never see again. Jesus was not recognized by the world, even His own people would not receive Him. The Creator of the world is not even know by the world He created!

 

• Born Again

 

The opposite of that bad news follows in verses 12-13, But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

We have the right to become God’s own and to be born of God. We recall that it is John’s gospel where we come to know the term born from above, or born again, (John 3:3). To receive Jesus is to believe in His name.

This time year many will watch again the movie, It's a Wonderful Life. The main character, George Bailey, has the opportunity to see what the world is like if he were never born. No one in those scenes recognizes him. He goes to the local bar and is thrown out, the pharmacist says he does not know him, and at one point in the story he goes to his mother's house but she has never heard of a George Bailey! He was not known by anyone even his own mother! He is not known or received. This is the sad situation we see in John 1, Jesus is not known or received.

But John’s gospel continues in verse 12 with a healthy relationship and all who do receive Christ become the children of God. George Bailey is given a great gift in having seen what the world would have been like if he were never born, and in the end the world returns to normal for him when things at set back in motion and he is received by his friends and family. Those who have received Jesus are adopted by God. They received a new relationship with God — receiving Jesus and being received by Him.

John has given us his version of Christmas. The story of light and witness, the story of Creator with part rejection and part acceptance, the story of the Advent of Christ into the world and the results of that Advent. Through the Christ child we who believe have become children of God. This is why we celebrate Advent, why we rejoice in Christmas, and why we give thanks to the One who has called us into His marvelous light. May the light of Christ shine on us and through us as we prepare and as we rejoice in the Advent of the Christ. Amen.